Correlation Study On Air Way Wall Thickness With Lung Function In Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Assessed By 64-slice Spiral CT

Objective:To investigate influencing factor on apical segmental bronchus thickness of the right upper lobe in the case of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) assessed by 64-slice spiral CT,and assess the relationship between airway wall thickness with lung function test(PFT).Methods:Both 64-slice spiral CT scans and PFTs were performed on 45 cases of COPD,15 cases in stage 1 to 3 respectively and 15 cases of normal controls.Multi-planer reformation techniques were used to obtain the perpendicular airway images of apical segmental bronchus of the right upper lobe.Measurement of total airway diameter (D) and lumen diameter (L) then calculated the airway wall to airway diameter ratio (TDR) and the percentage of airway area to total airway cross sectional area (WA%).Relationships were assessed between the measurements and lung function.Results:TDR and WA% of COPD group were significantly higher than heslthy subjects group (P<0.01).TDR and WA% negatively correlated with FEV25-75%(r=-0.649;-0.603), FEVl%(r=-0.692;-0.686) and FEVl/FVC%(r=-0.681;-0.597), were positively correlated with RV/TLC (r=0.630; 0.590). TDR negatively correlated with DLco (r=-0.403), in which P<0.01, yet there wasn't correlation between WA% and DLco. Conclusion:Influence of various kinds of factor were considered when bronchus thickness were assessed by 64-slice spiral CT,which could accurately and directly evaluate the reconstruction of airway and the relationship of airway dimension and airflow limitation.WA% and TDR can be used as parameters which were more sensitive in the evaluation of airflow limitation.